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katekintailbcTour de Nerdfighting: Washington, D.C. (Bethesda, MD)
Friday, January 13, 2012
Last week's Nerdfighting event exceeded my expectations. It was thrilling to see John Green the first time in 2010 for the Will Grayson x2 tour, but this one was infinitely cooler (literally--so many people in the basement of Politics & Prose in the hot summer was scorching hot). This hotel was a much better venue and beautifully organized. There were lines, lists, pre-signed books, more lines, rules not only communicated verbally but also written out in our special programs. Even the local DC Nerdfighter group was listed in the program. Very neat! Also, this time, there was Hank Green!
Michelle & I travelled by Metro and made a friend out by the tour van. TOUR VAN! I one day dream of having my book on a van! How awesome is that? We stood in line for a while to get our books and accumulated more friends along the way. The books were pre-signed by John AND had Hanklarfish from Hank! We had a super exciting ride in the elevator down to the ballroom (actually, the guy sent us to the wrong floor, but we figured it out in a second). We got seats on the side but in the very front row. More friends joined us as well.
John read a great scene from the book (I spent 3 evenings after work reading the book so I wouldn't be spoiled and could enjoy every word of it) where Hazel goes into Gus' bedroom for the first time and they talk about books, among other things. And then John talked a bit about some heavy concepts, including how we choose to use our time.
Hank came out and sang some songs, including "Video Game Books" about Hazel & Gus, which made me tear up. Hazel & Gus is definitely my OTP ;-) Then there was a TFiOS Q&A, more singing (including some of his Harry Potter songs). Then came a Q&A for both Vlogbrothers.
There was even a special appearance and unexpected musical number (i.e., we were expecting The Katherine and got Hankroll'd instead). The night ended with a special performance of "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)" by Hank in which everyone in the audience rushed up and started marching in time to the music, just like on the Doctor Who cast & crew video. It was spectacularly fun!
The best part about being in the front row, apart from being able to lean forward or sit on the floor and watch, was that they let us line up for signing row by row, so we were among the first to get our books signed & talk to John & Hank. I handed John a short note I wrote and told him I wrote it down because I can't talk to famous people I admire. He said he's the same way and prefers it in writing so he can read it on his own time and not forget it after a long night of signing. So yay!
Afterward, I bought the special Tour de Nerdfighting CD, which I've listened to a bunch of times now and love muchly. We picked up posters and signed John & Hank's copy of TFiOS. People were hogging it and writing whole page-long notes without regards to the other few thousand people wanting to write in it. Thanks to Michelle's nudging, I channeled my Slytherin side and finally just made a grab for the book. I turned to page 245, wrote one short sentence, and signed my name. 15 seconds tops. While I was signing, I moved aside so two other people could sign at the same time. THAT'S how it's supposed to work! So I guess I was still Hufflepuffy after all. LOL
The ride home on the Metro sucked because of one-tracking and massive delays and badly-worded announcements and impatient customers. But eventually we got home. I listened to my new CD on the way home and teared up again over "Video Game Books." MAN WRock has spoiled me. Now I want songs written about all my favorite TV shows, books, and movies! Luckily, there are a few beautiful TFiOS songs already.
In all, it was an amazing event and a great night. And there were so many awesome people reminding each other to be awesome! DFTBA, everyone!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Last week's Nerdfighting event exceeded my expectations. It was thrilling to see John Green the first time in 2010 for the Will Grayson x2 tour, but this one was infinitely cooler (literally--so many people in the basement of Politics & Prose in the hot summer was scorching hot). This hotel was a much better venue and beautifully organized. There were lines, lists, pre-signed books, more lines, rules not only communicated verbally but also written out in our special programs. Even the local DC Nerdfighter group was listed in the program. Very neat! Also, this time, there was Hank Green!
Michelle & I travelled by Metro and made a friend out by the tour van. TOUR VAN! I one day dream of having my book on a van! How awesome is that? We stood in line for a while to get our books and accumulated more friends along the way. The books were pre-signed by John AND had Hanklarfish from Hank! We had a super exciting ride in the elevator down to the ballroom (actually, the guy sent us to the wrong floor, but we figured it out in a second). We got seats on the side but in the very front row. More friends joined us as well.
John read a great scene from the book (I spent 3 evenings after work reading the book so I wouldn't be spoiled and could enjoy every word of it) where Hazel goes into Gus' bedroom for the first time and they talk about books, among other things. And then John talked a bit about some heavy concepts, including how we choose to use our time.
Hank came out and sang some songs, including "Video Game Books" about Hazel & Gus, which made me tear up. Hazel & Gus is definitely my OTP ;-) Then there was a TFiOS Q&A, more singing (including some of his Harry Potter songs). Then came a Q&A for both Vlogbrothers.There was even a special appearance and unexpected musical number (i.e., we were expecting The Katherine and got Hankroll'd instead). The night ended with a special performance of "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)" by Hank in which everyone in the audience rushed up and started marching in time to the music, just like on the Doctor Who cast & crew video. It was spectacularly fun!The best part about being in the front row, apart from being able to lean forward or sit on the floor and watch, was that they let us line up for signing row by row, so we were among the first to get our books signed & talk to John & Hank. I handed John a short note I wrote and told him I wrote it down because I can't talk to famous people I admire. He said he's the same way and prefers it in writing so he can read it on his own time and not forget it after a long night of signing. So yay!
Afterward, I bought the special Tour de Nerdfighting CD, which I've listened to a bunch of times now and love muchly. We picked up posters and signed John & Hank's copy of TFiOS. People were hogging it and writing whole page-long notes without regards to the other few thousand people wanting to write in it. Thanks to Michelle's nudging, I channeled my Slytherin side and finally just made a grab for the book. I turned to page 245, wrote one short sentence, and signed my name. 15 seconds tops. While I was signing, I moved aside so two other people could sign at the same time. THAT'S how it's supposed to work! So I guess I was still Hufflepuffy after all. LOL
The ride home on the Metro sucked because of one-tracking and massive delays and badly-worded announcements and impatient customers. But eventually we got home. I listened to my new CD on the way home and teared up again over "Video Game Books." MAN WRock has spoiled me. Now I want songs written about all my favorite TV shows, books, and movies! Luckily, there are a few beautiful TFiOS songs already.
In all, it was an amazing event and a great night. And there were so many awesome people reminding each other to be awesome! DFTBA, everyone!
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